You know those tiny animals –
the ones that cause hysteria?
They’re found in every country,
from New Zealand to Nigeria.
Most people are afraid of them
or view them as inferior,
and no one seems to like them much,
but we should LOVE bacteria!
Yes, some of them are horrible
and make our lives much drearier –
they give us nasty illnesses
like typhus and diphtheria –
but some of them you could call friends:
they meet the right criteria.
This poem’s all about them –
they’re the lovable bacteria!
If anybody questions this,
then I would tell the querier:
They turn your milk to yoghurt;
they make cheeses taste superior.
But if you think that’s eerie,
well, then this is even eerier:
they live inside of YOU, as well,
those lovable bacteria!
They live inside your tummy
and throughout your whole interior.
They’re there because they like free food
(their motives are ulterior).
Your small and large intestines are
a microbe cafeteria!
The food you eat feeds them, as well,
your lovable bacteria.
They also help your body out
on days when it feels wearier,
digest your lunch and help you poo
(they’re good for your posterior!).
They like to keep you healthy,
and they make you feel much cheerier.
Let’s hear it for those little stars,
the lovable bacteria!
*
Melanie Branton usually performs poetry for adults, but her children’s poems have been published in The Caterpillar and the Emma Press anthology The Head That Wears A Crown (2018) and commended in the York Mix Children’s Poetry Competition 2021. She likes to wear her pants on her head and talk to her socks.
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